Method of making mother-of-pearl tiling.



ingmils a specification;

gcoumepn PLASTIC V a pnuuonaiearetmr 13, gauges-mine: aie,sso;'--="= .fTo'alZ-'whom it may concern: side down to expose-the plane or other sur- Be it known that we,-A1.nm and ,Cmsan' Vnmmnm subjects of the 3 King f 'Italy,residing at 751 SrWatts 'S't. 3 and '1410.Montrose, respectively, Philadel the county of 'Philadel his. and State new and usef 'ful Improvements in Methods of Making l t e n of Pennsylvania, have inven Mother-o'f-Pearl Tiling, of which the followe'invention relates to a method of making' or producing a tiling, slab, brick, or other form ofvplaque or slab, by the use of mother of' erl as an artistic embellishment 1' or or the article, acting .also as a" V rbindenrfor the other products employed- "itherewithTf Although. we are aware 'of variouskmds and 'rforms'of methods pf making slabs, ce-

:0 ramics,.moswics and other stone finishes, withfvarious kpdspf materials, s'uehas gravel,

.stone,or'

jtirely newand novel 'methodpf assimilating with cement,'a roduct whichhy reason of its inherent ua' ity to act'asa binder with j the cement a o isinherentlj artistic, novel and beautiful in appearance, and it is'to this end that we have devised a inethod forming atile'or slab-withmothg; 9f pearl as the 80 basic medium, ino ezuto lOVl e a tile or stone that will have a nove ,artistic and re fined appearance, withstand; wear and tear of the elements, and adaptdtself to all forms of architecture and design.

In the promulgation of our method wle use,

as mentioned heretofore, the hard,

' al la f vrious p 4 0 pa the brickor tile, qfgmshghflluf this character to derive t at brilliant and lustrous 1 part of the shell which is usually found in H cry or by. hand, to obtain a promiscuous lot of mother of pearl ofvarious shapes and designs, and after doing so ix the mother of pearl shell ce nt The plas c mass is ow ace in afiy convenient form of mold to bring about amnion or e 1ike, weaim' to'provide an ena brick or'tile of a desiredshape and con-n e J5 figuration, andwhen the same has become set it-is removed from the mold and turned up :fleni letti'on of imminent. l

inthe mannermentioned," the mbthe'r c'fpearl Examiner will appear onthe surface ofithe brick,';and

the brick will "be thoroughly impregnated therewith, so 'that the mother- 0f pearl not only is adapted to the ornamental finis'hand appearance 'of thei brick, rbut forms the 'blnder with'the cement:whichmakes the buck hardl'and-strong, and capable of great use and wear andteannwithout breaking or cracking. It is' of' course undmtoodmhat we may merelyform alsurfaceor layer of the mother of'pearl forthe finished face of the :brick, and behind this, ;1nixed with the cement to form an integral part of the hriek, we may use the remainmg'parts of'the pearl oymer or mollus'k shell :which inherently pos:

sessan artistic appearance.

However, whenfthe brick or tilehas been removed from the mold, and the 'surfaceexposed that is'later-to become the plane-and finished surface of-the brick, we'subjeet this surface to the action of carborundum wheels or other grinding elements, to not only'plane down the surfaceof .cement'but also plane down and polish-oil the1exposed and=projecting faces or edges of the mother zof-pearl,

so that ultimately when the grindingvoperm tion' is complete, there will be presented a plane, smooth surface impregnated with numerous bits, particles and pieces of mother of pearl,whose surfaces are plane with the plane surface of cement, and thus the grinding elements not only rovide this desired plane surface, but also ace ofl or polish the exposed mother of pearl to provide the artistic finish and result desired.

This surface is .now subjected to repeated coats of white damar, not only for the purpose of making the tile waterproof and im- "pervious to moisture, but to finish oil the dull ap arhnce of the cement, and also "bring a ut a more desirable polish and higher lusterof the mother of pearl.

Va may, if desirable, when we first place 'the plastic mass in a mold, arrange pieces "of mother of pearl in.the bottom of the mold 'bling a mosaic or ceramic, and thus producing a tile that may be employed in lieu of terra cotta, and used for various purposes, such as, furniture tops, baseboards, and other border wor Still further, in view of the slight curvature that pearl shell usually has, we may crush the pearl shell carefully or stamp out from the mainbody thereof, cup-shaped piecesof the mother of pearl from the mantle or interior of the shell, and then carefully dispose these cup-shaped pieces in the bottom of the mold, so that ultimately when the finished surface is ground down by the carborundum wheels or grinding agents, the grinding down of these cup-shaped pieces will orm concentric circles of mother of pearl, due to the peculiar formation of pearl shell and the peculiar mother of pearl is formed with pearl shell.

Needless to say a brick or tile produced in the manner mentioned heretofore, will presenta neat and artistic finish that cannot be obtained with gravel, stone or other formations of stone structure, that we know have been used heretofore in the formation of ceramics and mosaics, and that it is the-inherent quality of mother of pearl to produce a novel surface in a tile or brick, when made as described, so that it will appear very unlike the usual stones or slabs that have repeatedly been employed heretofore, and by reason of the finish of white damar, we not only obtain a tile or brick or slab that will impervious to moisture, but which also will have a distinct luster, not only of the surface of the cement body, but also of the surfaces of the mother of pearl. We do not employ mother of pearl or pearl shell in the formation or our brick or manner in which tile merely because of the cheapness of a brick so made, for the reason that pearl shells in the manufacture of buttons and the like are of no further use when the button bodies have been stamped therefrom, but aside from the cheapness of a brick or tile .of this character, we rely upon the mother of pearl, because of its inherent quality, lus ter, brilliant appearance, hardness and sus- .ceptibility to polish, to produce a brick or tile that presents a distinct, new and highly ornamental piece of decorative stone work, whose mottled and brightly polished appearance, is highly attractive to the eye, and stands for something different and distinct from the ordinary stone and brick compositions that have been used heretofore in the manufacture of tiling, terra cotta, mosaics, ceramics and other forms of plastic stone and cement products.

Having described our invention, we claim: The herein described method of producing a shell and cementtile or slab, consisting in crushing a quantity of shells to obtain therefrom the mother-of-pesirl, thoroughly mixing the mother-of-pearl with 9. Elastic mass of cement to insure the cement eing thoroughly impregnated with the pieces of mother-of-pearl, molding this mass into the slab or tile, grinding the surface of the slab or tile to smooth off the rough particles of cement and polish and smooth out the exposed mother-of-pearl and subjecting the finished surface of cement and mother-of-pcarl simultaneously to a coat of white damar.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures.

ALBIN VUILLERMET. CEASAR YUILLERMET. 

